chris van hollen made similar comments. it is a little bit influx as to what will happen. host: it was designed as a temporary cut to boost the economy. it increased take-home pay an average of $1,000 to $1800 per worker. here is a chart from "mondey' magazine. host: prio to december, 2010, that's what everybody was paying. has been proven this was stimulus toward the economy? asest: i didn't know it w proven. i think economists believe it does help boost the economy a little bit. host: we want to put the numbers on the screen if you like to participate in the discussion with the so-called fiscal cliff and the payroll tax cut specifically. 202-585-3880 for democrats. 202-585-3881 for republicans. you can e-mail us or post a twitter comment at twitter.com/cspanwj. going back to the origins of this idea. who developed it? did the republicans resisted at first? guest: there was a tax credit with a similar targets that obama was a champion of in the 2009 stimulus bill. he wanted to continue that. republicans oppose that tax credits. they opposed many things in the stimulus bil